Hartman Military Academy
by BGuate224
Summary: AU; What if Danny was sent to military school right before becoming Danny Phantom? What if...everyone was? Danny, the ever dweeb to his peers, is the new kid, Sam kicks ass, and Tucker is an infamous military hacker who still gets picked on. Welcome to Hartman Military Academy. An origins fic.
1. Introductions

_AU; What if Danny was sent to military school right before becoming Danny Phantom? What if...everyone was? Danny, the ever dweeb to his peers, is the new kid, Sam kicks ass, and Tucker is an infamous military hacker who still gets picked on. Welcome to Hartman Military Academy. An origins fic._

* * *

Chapter One: Introductions

* * *

"I just, I don't get why-"

"Danny, really sweetheart, it's a rite of passage for everyone in my family to attend Hartman Military. You should be no exception," recited his mother as the redhead bustled around her laboratory, making checkmarks into the pamphlet she had strapped into her clipboard.

"But _Jazz was an exception_!"

"Jazmine was awarded a full scholarship to Amity Prep, I didn't have the heart to tell her that all her hard work throughout elementary and middle school was put to naught. Plus, we just couldn't afford it."

"B-but, _Dad!_ Talk some sense into Mom!"

"Danny Boy! Come on, you're a Fenton aren't you? You don't scare at new opportunities. If you did, you wouldn't be fit to hunt ghosts! Don't you want the funding and training to fight some ectoplasmic scum? And it's free!"

"Okay, you do realize that the Fentons didn't attend military school, right? That this is a Mora tradition? And I didn't even know about this military tradition until like five seconds ago! Why should I have to attend some military academy just because you guys are being paid to make some weapons for them? Did Aunt Alicia even-"

"Your Aunt Alicia did attend. All the Mora family did and as much as I love being a Fenton, this is a tradition I do adhere to! You should be thankful of the United States Army Daniel, really, we wouldn't have a roof over our heads if they didn't keep buying our guns. I was already sad enough to think that we wouldn't be able to afford to keep the tradition alive, but now that they're paying us to conduct research, they agreed to give you a full scholarship in admittance. It doesn't matter if you're starting in your sophomore year, attendance is attendance! So help me Daniel Fenton, I will drag you by your ear and leave you stranded without anything at Hartman if I have to!"

And that was the end of that. As much as he wanted to argue further, he was a momma's boy at heart and didn't want to upset or infuriate his mother anymore, especially with all the ectoplasm weapons she had in her wake on the table she was examining with her clipboard in tow. That's right, you heard me, ectoplasm. His parents were brilliant scientists that were plucked from Wisconsin College to make prototype weaponry for the United States Army, National Guard, and the Navy Seals, many picked up to field testing, such as their working shrink ray. But, as his blubbering and excitable father had stated earlier, the Fenton family were also famous for hunting ghosts, or at least, they thought so. In all of Danny's fourteen years of life, he never once encountered a single real ghost, but instead was haunted by the inventions his parents made, including ectoplasm explosions over his possessions and food, said food coming alive and trying to attack him, etc. He still has nightmares about hot dogs. Don't ask.

With a sigh, he climbed the two flights of stairs from the basement to his room to stare at his semi-packed belongings. His father was known as the easily excitable one, so it came as a bit of a shock for Danny to see his mother so animated as she quickly spoke of his acceptance into the academy as she folded his clothes into suitcases. He sputtered angrily. She paused in her actions before repeating her news and before he could counter back angrily she told him to finish packing himself as she headed towards the Fenton laboratory to join her husband, Danny clambering behind her. Which brings us back here.

Looking around, Danny couldn't help but wonder why his family was so invested in the thought that he was going to continue in the family business of ghost hunting when so clearly, given the alignment of planets dangling from the ceiling, the small rocket replicas adorning his nightstand and bookshelf, as well as the astronomy books lying about, that he was already invested in another career. He wanted to be an astronaut.

Rolling his eyes, Danny wondered out loud, "I mean, ghosts versus aliens? Aliens would totally win...unless like...there are ghost aliens? Ghosts are just dead people, right?" He shook his head, "Duh, ghosts don't exist." With a downward glance he packed away his astronomy book in his suitcase on top of the pile of clothes his mother already packed.

"Might as well get this over with."

* * *

It wasn't too long of a drive from Amity Park, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois. At least, it wasn't as bad as other Fenton family road trips. I mean, nothing says family vacation like ectoplasm in the face and more haunted hot dogs. But anyways, he rested his head in his palm looking out the window as his parents chatted admittedly. There was the tree he was hung by his underwear with. There was the flagpole he was taped to. There was the movie theaters he liked to visit on the weekends. It was like watching his past memories come to life to replay as he drove away from the place he once called home. Actually, this is kind of sad. I mean, his life. Looking back at it, why didn't he want to move away and start over?

"That's a good point Danny!" Oh, he spoke out loud, "I'm glad you're finally seeing this as a window of opportunity."

Yeah, a total redo of who he is. He doesn't have to be a so-called loser being picked on by everyone. He can totally do this.

"We're here, Danny!"

With a deep breathe Danny stepped out of the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle-I mean, the RV and looked around at the surrounding barbed wire landscape. He was in awe as a mass of bulky men jogged past him wearing cargo shorts and army green tshirts. There was a field of people airly juggling rifles in a routine pattern, a group combating through an obstacle course that towered so high it craned Danny's neck to look further. Whoa.

Looking around at shock Danny took a step further...face first into mud. It appeared he tripped on air. Looking upwards and trying to blink the mud away, Danny looked at his new peers that all had their eyes trained on him.

"Hey, did you have a nice trip? See you next fall!" Laughed a stocky blonde as he led the jog of people away from the sprawled out kid lying in the mud.

Great. So much for starting over and not being a loser.

* * *

After his mom doddled on him some, wiping at his face with a Fenton baby wipe until he jostled her away, earning more laughs from the people in front of him, he was clean enough in the face to see clearly and proceed to unload his things from the RV. His parents walked in front of him in strides as the principal or whatever the equivalent to a principal is at a military school gave them a quick tour of the academy.

"I must say Major Cadet Mora, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to Hartman, you really were one of the best we've ever had," said the bulky man as he lead them along. He was as tall and as large as his father, but unlike Jack Fenton, this man appeared to be pure muscle, even at his age. He was an intimidating Latino with slated gray hair and a matching bushy mustache.

With a giggle his mother responded, "It's Fenton now General Sanchez, and please, I graduated long ago, just a few classes below you. Call me Maddie."

"Once a cadet, always a cadet to me now I'm afraid. Ah, and here are the dormitories. This is the end of the tour," boomed the accented low baritone, "Cadet Fenton!" And Danny jumped at the voice, realizing he was the one being addressed, "This is your hall," he through an ID pass at him, "You're identification number is 040304082408, otherwise known as Cadet Fenton with bed X53. We have a twenty-two hundred curfew all students abide by as well as a o'six hundred wake up. Beds will be made. Shoes will be shined. Orders will be obeyed which I'm sure won't be a problem if your mother is any example. DISMISSED!" he finished, leading his parents away from him. What, no hug goodbye? But his mother walked along, somewhat dragging her husband along as he complained about wanting to see the mess hall.

With eyes full of confusion he took in the large black bunker labeled "X" and wondered why the old guy called it a hall before entering with his two suitcases in toe. The hall was a pristine sight with rows of beds and trunks at the ends stacked in rows. Men all around were chattering about, sitting on beds all clad in the same state of dress. All the beds had a system, it seemed for almost all of them were made with the tiniest personalizations peeking out under the plain green sheets. They were all lettered with an "X" at the beginning followed by a series of numbers. If his listening skills were any good, he had to find the number 53. Rolling his suitcases behind him as quietly as he could until he succeeded in finding the empty bunk with the sheets folded neatly at the bottom of the bed. He opened the trunk at the end and proceeded to empty his belongings.

"Hey Nguyen, isn't this the guy who fell in the mud earlier?" Asked the same bulky, blonde that was jogging past him earlier.

"I think you're right Baxter. Think we should show him a proper Hartman welcome?"

"I think you're right Nguyen. What's this say?" Questioned Baxter as he snatched Danny's new ID tag, "Fenton? With the mud you still got on you it's more like Fen _turd_." He laughed cruelly yanking Danny up by the scruff of his shirt, "God, you're _puny_. You're never gonna survive here." He chastised as he dragged Danny to the closest utility closet, "But maybe _here_ you will!" And with that said Baxter through the raven-haired boy into the closet without another word, the other Asian boy laughing as the Baxter guy came back with what Danny would assume to be a high five, but he wouldn't know because the slither of what he could see closed off along with the door.

"Hey. _Hey!_ " Danny yelled as he jiggled the doorknob.

"Yeah, that's not going to work," called a voice behind him.

"GHOST?" Danny cried, skitting up so his back was to the door.

"Uhm, no. I'm a human." Said the voice as a screen illuminated the boy that was talking to him, "But ghosts? That's just weird, dude."

"Long story. Wait, how long have you been in here?" Questioned Danny as he took in his closet-mate. An African American boy with a small built, glasses askewed.

"Since about o'nine hundred."

"O'nine hundred- you mean like nine? But it's eleven o'clock!"

"Sometimes it's better in here," the kid shrugged, "there's surprisingly an outlet so I usually just play Doom on my PDA."

"Dude, no way, you can play Doom on your PDA?"

"Most people can't. I hacked into the gaming software and aligned certain keys as my joystick."

"That's sick," Danny exclaimed as he slid next to the kid and invited himself to watching the other boy play.

An hour passed before he thought to introduce himself, "Oh Crap. I'm Danny by the way."

His companion laughed, "I'm Tucker."

And that is how Danny became acquainted with Tucker Foley.

"So this Dash Baxter, he locks you up in here all the time?" asked Danny.

"Pretty much," Tucker said with a shrug, "If this was a regular high school it'd be like him cramming me into a locker or something, but no, I have to live with him, so the utility closet it is."

"And does he ever let you out?"

"Oh, I let myself out." With that said Tucker held up his PDA to the doorknob and the tech device sprang to life, letting out a sharp tool that drilled into the doorknob and with a click, the door was pushed ajar, "He and Kwan Nguyen tend to forget they've abandoned me somewhere."

"So you're here...willingly. And you decided to tell me this after I've been sitting in a pile of drying mud for the last hour and a half?"

"Oh. Oops." The boy said sheepishly.

"It's all good." Danny stretched out his legs before standing up to his full height, "I just wanna take a shower...where is that, by the way?"

Tucker laughed before telling his new friend he'd show him around the right way.

* * *

After a grueling teenage self deprivation moment when he learned the boy's bathroom resembled that of a racy tv sitcom where the area was opened and Tucker made a horrible, "Don't drop the soap" comment, here he was, in the standard green t-shirt and cargo pants, combat boots laced up ready to take on the mess hall.

"We got an assortment of food here, I'm partial to the meats, especially myself, but we kinda got everything. Literally, last year the General stuck in a tofu and salad bar," he rolled his eyes, "For some reason some people like to be a vegetarian or whatever. Idunno. Sounds gross though" Spoke Tucker as he gave Danny a tray to hold his food, "But yeah, I recommend the meatloaf."

With a bemused smirk Danny thanked him before looking around and promptly almost dropped his tray.

"Who. Is. That?" He questioned with wide eyes.

"Hmm? Oh, that's Paulina Sanchez," answered Tucker in a dreamy voice, "Literally the hottest girl around. She's not a cadet, though. Her dad's Lieutenant General Sanchez, he's kind of like...a headmaster here. So yeah, she just lives on the premises. She goes to prep school in town, but she comes around often enough, God bless. I think she just likes being hot shit around here. It's a welcomed sight considering most of the girls here are…" he trailed off with a not so subtle look at another direction. Danny pried his eyes away from the hottest girl ever to look at what Tucker was showing him, girls with their hair pulled up in tight ponytails, matching cargo pants and army green tank tops. They were all waiting in line with scowls, weirdly bulging muscles and no care for how they appeared.

"I see your point."

"But I'd make out with any of them honestly." He finished with a shrug as he grabbed his own tray and made a B-line for the mystery meat.

Scanning the area Danny was trying to decide what he felt like eating and pondered around in the middle of the kitchen-ess area.

"Ay! Fenturd got out of the closet," Dash Baxter stopped when he heard the other innuendo in his saying, "Heh, makes sense considering your puny size."

"Really Dash? Homophobic comments? And here I thought you were turning into a semi-decent cadet." said a feminine voice behind Danny. Turning around, he saw another girl sporting a high ponytail, the standard cargo pants and combat boots, but this girl was different. Her shirt was cut hazardously into a cropped v-neck tank top and she had purple lipstick smeared on.

"Manson. What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want my fellow peers to be high enough on an intellectual level to not make misogynist or homophobic jokes about others, especially considering that, for example, this school allows all genders and sexes and how each cadet performs at a stellar level to their own capacity in a certain given field. But sadly, I'm stuck with people like you," the girl finished with a frown.

"I have no idea what you just said Manson, but if I found out it's bad, you're dead!"

"Oh, I'm so scared of the guy who always comes in third next to my first on the overall Hartman scoreboard."

Dash fumed as he left their presence to go back to his table, which Danny learned, is the same one Paulina seemed to frequent. Great.

"Uh, thank you, uhm-"

"Manson. As you heard Baxter say." Her amethyst eyes gazed over his form, "You're new. Good luck here." And with that she turned away from him into the crowd of people sitting at tables.

"Sam Manson. Resident badass and best student in the whole freaking place. Don't get on her bad side dude." Regarded Tucker as he came up behind Danny munching on a turkey leg.

"And her...shirt?"

"Idunno, form of rebellion? She's the best of the best, Lieutenant General Sanchez doesn't give her much thought besides the fact that she kicks everyone's butt."

"She's so small."

"Don't let looks deceive you."

* * *

Tucker was twelve when he learned how to bypass the national security system. What can he say, it was a Friday night and he was bored. What else was he to do, hang out with friends? Hah. Tucker Foley didn't have any friends.

It started with trying to learn about a swimsuit catalog. Miss Illinois looked hot, okay? And then he learned that Miss Illinois was actually Sergeant Amber and when he tried to learn more about Sergeant Amber, or rather Elaine Amber, he was struck with a bunch of firewalls. What was a small lonely geek to do? Bypass the firewalls to learn about the hot chick. It didn't take too long, maybe two hours-coding wasn't as simple as it was shown in the spy movies. But low and behold he was able to grasp onto Amber's classified file to find that the plot of Miss Congeniality really wasn't as far fetched as some people were led to believe.

After a while, he was shut out of the webpage with a whiny, "Hey!" but, since he was a prepubescent boy after all, he moved on to the next swimsuit model in the catalog. The woman he oogled didn't necessarily have to be the lady representing his state.

He forgot all about the ordeal honestly as he finally finished middle school, but the Nation didn't forget. When two Generals flanked his house, his parents were in quite a state of shock while he rubbed his forehead with remembrance. The Generals concluded that Tucker meant no malice, all those years ago, but still, they were intrigued. They stated that they knew of his hacking long ago, but stated that he was much too young to be enrolled in a Military Academy as they would have liked to do. But, he wasn't so young anymore. After offering a full scholarship, the Generals insisted that Tucker be enrolled in Hartman Military Academy. After staring at them for long enough, Tucker learned that he wasn't just being offered to enroll, he was being forced to, for the "security of the Nation." He held out long enough to postpone for one measly day.

Better have a powerful ally than a powerful potential enemy.

He didn't live far from his state capital of Chicago, his mother constantly pointed out this fact, telling him that he could visit them or vice versa every weekend.

His father, Morice, took him to the side upon arrival, "Now, I know this isn't what you would have wanted or expected of your High School experience."

"You can say that again, Dad."

"But, I just want you to know how proud your mother and I am of you and...well," pulling a bow-wrapped present from his pocket, "Don't forget to check up on us every once in awhile, okay? Don't worry, I'm not gonna let your mother drive up here every weekend."

Unwrapping the present Tucker found the newest in handheld technology, a bright and shiny looking PDA.

"B-but, this wasn't supposed to come out for months!"

"Well your dad does have some connections in the lab." His father winked and Tucker's grin reached both cheeks. Happily flushed, he turned from his parents with a jubilant wave.

He was too lost in programming his PDA to look up as he walked so it was inevitable that he would bump into something, or rather, someone.

"Oh, my bad dude, I wasn't watching where I was going."

The large Asian kid stared down at him, "It's cool, though you're kinda late. Everyone else moved in yesterday."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

He hated military school. They made him run. They made him sweat. They threw away his beret- _His beret!_ Worst of all, the Lieutenants wanted him to eat _vegetables_. Not even his parents would do that! So yeah, he hated it.

Almost all of the guys were bigger than him, which didn't help his ego. The one bright side to that though, was that no one paid any attention to him.

Making his way through the mess hall, he sat next to his friend Kwan, "Dude. I can't take this place. All I want to do is go home, curl up on my bed, and play some video games. I miss technology, sweet technology."

Kwan chuckled as he spooned some mashed potatoes, "I mean that'd be pretty cool but Idunno, I kinda like it. Check this out!" He cried as he flexed his right arm, "I'm so buff after like a month!"

Tucker glanced at his own arms in comparison. Kwan was in much better favor than he when it came to this school.

"Hey, Kwan!" Called a blonde whose body built was similar to Kwan's.

"Dash, hey!" He smiled as the blonde sat opposite to him, next to Tucker.

"Hey, watch it." Tucker chastised seeing as Dash had almost sat on his PDA.

"Hmm?" Dash hummed, as if just noticing him for the first time, "Ugh, a Dweeb. What are you doing with the likes of him?" Dash asked Kwan as he flicked Tucker's glasses.

"Tucker? Oh, he's cool-" Kwan realized Dash's unimpressed look and his slight movement that indicated that he was about to stand up and walk away from the duo, "I mean, yeah, I don't even know, dude, the loser just say across from me!"

"What? Kwan…"

Dash snorted, "Listen loser," he pushed Tucker off the bench aligned with the lunch table, "We don't know why you'd even try to sit with us but scram."

Tucker looked at the two larger boys in disdain. He thought Kwan was his friend, but as he scrambled back up to his feet and saw the two boys laugh at each other's jokes he realized he didn't need friends, just like back home. Or at least, friends that didn't care about him enough.

* * *

Tucker hated military school, but there were some perks.

"Cadet Foley, your assistance is needed in the computer lab."

Tucker almost smirked. Even though he was one of the least capable cadetes in the existence of Hartman when it came to physical exuberance, he was more than capable of handling anything tech savvy.

Dash Baxter looked at him with slight jealousy as Tucker was plucked from drills to help with a matter that the nation's own technical crew couldn't handle.

"Looks like I gotta leave all you losers, too bad man." He laughed as he followed the Lieutenants.

He may not be the number one Cadette here, as Samantha Manson, he thought as he passed by her on his walk to the computer lab, but he knew he was definitely needed and that's what mattered most. If only he could be challenged one of these days. He was light years beyond what the academy had to throw at him.

* * *

"Come on Sammykins! It's so pretty. You really need to start dressing better if you want to become a lady."

Sam looked at the dress her mother was holding in disdain, "How about...no."

Being born a Manson looked like a luxury from the point of view of outsiders. Even her peers, the Elites of New York, were jealous of the Manson's wealth.

Yet, Sam wanted nothing to do with it. Call it teenage rebellion, call it Sam's actual personality that her family just didn't want to digest. She didn't want to wear frills, florals or the color pink. She was totally satisfied with her black outfits, thank you very much. God, and when her mother through that outrageous party and the waiter dared serve her caviar, she pushed the platter in his face.

Her parents just didn't understand, she didn't want to live with this kind of luxury. Call her a weirdo. She already titled herself as one.

When her mother tried to set her up on a blind date with a snobby ginger who stared more at his reflection through a spoon rather than her, all of this being at the tender age of thirteen mind you, Sam had enough. Returning home from the horrid date, she marched into the bathroom with a pair of scissors ready to hack off her long, luxurious black locks as a sign to her mother that she wasn't to be messed with. Her mother, despite hating her father's natural black hair and making him bleach it blonde, loved her long routes due to her being able to style and curl it when she liked. Sam felt like her mother's own life-sized barbie doll. However, one of the many maids of the Mansion's penthouse saw what she was up to and thinking of the worst, tackled the teenager to the ground and snatching the scissors away, screeching about how life is worth living and how she should have taken the sign of Sam head to toe in black as a point in the direction of depression. She had to have a long discussion with her parents as well as a few therapists about her intentions before they believed her.

Sam was sick of therapists, pitying looks, her parents and the way they flaunted their money.

As August dwindled down, she dropped a document at the feet of her parents as they lounged at their rooftop pool. The top of the packet read 'Hartman Military Academy' in bold letters.

"Sammy...what is this?" Questioned her father.

"I'm sending myself away, I'm sick of this place a-and I'm sick of yo-" she stopped herself, "I need to be away for a while. Grandma already signed off the papers."

Her parents were in a state of shock as she walked away, too shocked to stop her.

* * *

She was grinded past normal comfort, and she loved it. Everyday the cadets ran drills and they were pushed to their limits. It was much more daunting than being forced to have a mani-pedi and it was the exact opposite extreme that she was looking for. Maybe because it was so different than she was used to and how she strived on difference, but she had a natural knack for this place. It made her happier than she's been in a long time and that might just be another reason why she was doing so well. No longer did she have to hide in the shadows of extravagant parties. Now she could be exactly show she is.

"Bring it in maggots!" Lieutenant Tetslaff called out as the bundle of cadets banded together in front of Tetslaff covered in sweat and mud. Sam stared down at her rope burned hands with a tiny, wicked smile on her face.

"Much potential," she smiled as she mentally counted every teen in her eyesight, "All cadetes accounted for. Good. We…" she trailed off, inviting the teenagers to jump in.

"NEVER LEAVE A MAN BEHIND!"

"Or woman," she chastised, "We should really change that to 'person,' huh? Alright, dismissed!"

Sam turned with the masses, but Tetslaff's large, meaty hand stopped her.

"Manson, you really are outshining my other pupils."

"Oh," she chucked, embarrassed, "Well, I-"

"You're becoming a star, a model Cadet. I like it." With that Tetslaff walked away in the direction the other teens went.

Starr Andersson tsked at her boyfriend Kwan Nyugen, "Model student? More like the military version of like a teacher's pet!"

A teacher's pet. The words echoed in Sam's head. Exemplary. That was never her, she was never the perfect...anything.

Looking down at the standard state of dress Sam realized that there was nothing unique about her anymore. Without her black clothes, there was nothing to set her apart from the masses. But, that's who she is-she's different! That's her personality!

Licking her lips, she walked not towards the mess hall where everyone else was at but to hall "G," her hall. Sitting down on her pristine bed, not unlike everyone else's she wondered what she should have done differently, what she could be doing differently.

"I don't want to give this up, I finally found something I'm good at," she thought out loud. Looking at the shining reflection of her boots Sam realized that there was more to this school than talent. Military school was about uniformity.

Grabbing her toiletries she went to the showers that thankfully had stalls, unlike (from what she heard at least) the boy's bathroom.

She went to bed with a plan.

The next morning she walked into the mess hall with a smirk, ' _Thank you Grandma Ida.'_

There was something about a new lip product and a tiny, cleavage and belly showing shirt that grabbed the attention of the crowd. Wanted attention, but not for the reason people believed.

"Slut," coughed Starr with a look of malice as she stared down the Manson girl.

Sam didn't care. This wasn't to seem hot or easy. This was to tick people off.

"Manson!" Growled Lieutenant General Sanchez, "My office! Now!"

The crowed "Oohed," but Sam took it in stride. She sat opposite of the General as he took his seat behind his desk.

"Tetslaff showed me your scores. You're perfect."

She blinked, "What? This is about...my scores?"

"I'm not an idiot Cadet Manson, but with scores like these, I'm not one to complain."

"So I can...stay...like-"

"You're wearing the green tank top, cargo pants and boots. They're shined. I see nothing wrong. My daughter, for instance dresses in a much worse state."

She smiled, thankful for the General being the father of a slutty daughter.

"At least, I don't see anything wrong as long as you keep scores like these." He gave her a long look.

"U-understood General, I mean, Lieutenant General, I mean, sir-"

"Manson," he warned with a chuckle.

"Does this mean I can organize a peaceful protest and or riot to include a vegetarian meal plan in the mess hall?"

He tried hard not to roll his eyes in fondness, "I'll see what I can do. Dismissed."

Trying hard to contain a smile Sam left the office with more beat in her step than before.


	2. Bootcamp

Chapter Two: Bootcamp

* * *

The first morning was rough for Danny. Coincidentally, Tucker had the bunk next to him. It appears that Tucker was the last person to move into Hall "X," but the African American boy claimed he liked it that way. The outskirts were safe. But, yes, the first morning was rough. Tucker roughly shoved him awake, telling him that the Major Cadet was going to take call and that he had to be up and ready already.

Groggily, Danny shuffled out of bed looking up to see a line of cadets in front of their already made beds. He was in purple pajamas still.

Cadet Major Owens sneered at him, snapping out a reprimand, "But seeing as you're new, I'll let you off early. All you gotta do is clean the lab, after your parents are done for...let's say...five months," he smirked.

His eyes widened, God, he never even stepped into their lab at home more than he absolutely had to. He was going to put his two cents in but Tucker's fierce look told him otherwise. He had a smart mouth, _when was he allowed to talk_?

* * *

Danny sat next to Tucker in the mess hall, not trusting any of the others that gave him the side eye.

"Ready for drills?"

"Drills?"

"Did you see that huge obstacle course outside?"

"No...God no. C'mon, that's ridiculous!"

Tucker smiled sadly, "Welcome to my world."

And then he burped, loudly.

"Nice, Tuck. Really know how to reel in the ladies," came a voice behind them.

"Ah yes, you already know," winked Tucker as the girl from yesterday sat next to him.

"I'm swooning," she deadpanned, "So, are we still on?"

He visibly deflated, "Yeah."

"Alright, see you on the course," she called as she went to her own table that was only occupied by her.

"Manson? You're dating Manson?" Danny asked with huge eyes.

' _I mean Tucker did say he would make out with anyone but…'_ Danny thought that was a signal for singleness, ' _And her, she's hot, I understand but…'_ His thoughts trailed off.

"God no, not that I'd say no. She was assigned to help me on the courts. I kinda suck...really badly."

"Bet you I suck more," stated Danny gloomily, "People referred to me as a klutz my whole life. The only reason I would show up to gym class was because of the mandatory gym uniforms-the shortest shorts, man"

"Well get ready, dude, because there's nothing mini going on around here."

* * *

She dangled a new orange PDA in front of the techno-geek, trying not to smirk at how hard he was trying to reach her on the obstacle course when she had barely even broken a sweat.

"Come," he had to pause to catch his breath, "C'mon, just...hand me the PDA!" he cried out breathily in her wake.

"Uh uh, not until you grab me!" She almost smiled. This was fun. He was funny.

And the new kid? He was face first in the mud again, having fallen a good four feet off the obstacle and missing the safety net.

Days like this repeat without end and Danny improved at least seven feet and had no more mud baths. He watched as Tucker improved, every few days getting closer to Sam, but alas, never close enough.

He questioned Tucker on it, "She pushes me, but it's a good kind of push? If you ever need a weird kinda tutor in this place? She's the one to call. And no one gives you shit for it because she can make everyone look like crud, including Cadet number two, Valerie Gray."

Valerie Gray sounded familiar, but Danny couldn't recall what she looked like or if he even properly met her.

As the sky changed color, Danny headed down to the laboratory his parents frequented at least once a week. The commute from their house to academy worked in Danny's favor. He only had a half of a month left of this cleaning ordeal to do and as he and Tucker became closer, Tucker agreed to help him out, or at least keep him company. A Major Cadet was always present while Danny cleaned, while some were more lenient and allowed Tucker to help, many were not and scowled at the mere sight of the techno-geek. But, if the academy taught him anything, was to not back down, so Tucker would take a seat on a table and chattered on or played on his PDA as Danny worked.

It was almost amazing how much could change in just a few months. The boys were almost like brothers. Not to mention the building muscle mass the boys were raising. With Danny's mere enrollment and Manson's literal bootcamp training for Tucker, the two were finally improving themselves in the way the academy wants.

Today, as the boys raced down to the lab, they were graced with a different face.

"Cadets!" A clear voice rang and Danny really started chastising himself for always showing him his back, "Manson," he recognized.

"Major Cadet Manson," her eyes narrowed before relenting to show she was playing, "Hey Tuck. Fenton," she nodded, "I'm here to watch today, but…" she looked around, "this is just way cool. All these inventions," she asked as her eyes scanned the guns and moved to stand in front of a huge hexagonal shaped door, "they're your parents' inventions, right? That's so cool."

"You think they're...cool?" Never in his life had any of his peers told him that before.

"You probably can't tell but, I'm Goth, this is like, everything to me. Ghosts, right?"

"You believe in ghosts?"

She nods, "Yeah," her eyes scanned some blueprints, "and this is a portal to their realm?"

Danny took in the large open door, "Supposedly. They had a tiny one started in the house since last year but didn't have the resources to make one this big before. They wanted to explore it. Doesn't work though."

Tucker scanned the portal, "Well, there's definitely something back there. There's readings through the roof on that thing."

"Wait, really?"

"You should check it out."

"Me? Didn't you just say you were interested in all this stuff?"

"Your parents' ghost portal, you do it, c'mon, hasn't the academy given you a backbone yet? I'll make you a deal," she started as she leaned on one of the tables, her enchanting amethyst eyes trained solely on him, "if you last a few minutes in their, looking around, I'll relieve your cleaning duties"

Feeling somewhat provoked, wanting to prove himself in front of the badass girl, he grabbed a white and black hazmat suit that hung from the wall, pulling it over his clothes, he gave a silent indication that he was game.

" _Wait!_ Danny, seriously? Just like that? Who knows what-"

"And I'll throw in that PDA I've been making Foley fall over for."

"Alright Danny, up, up," Tucker finished zipping the hazmat suit up, "Let's go. What better person than you to see what's beyond that door, I mean, this is what your family does."

"You know what, you're right," looking back at the two and then at the portal, "who knows what strange and cool things are beyond that door."

"Wait!"

"Don't tell me you're chickening out too now-"

Sam ripped off a sticker of Jack Fenton's face that adorned Danny's chest, her fingers lingering there and tingling his spine, "Wouldn't want to go around with that on your chest," she smirked.

With a smile at the two of them he entered the door, "It's dark. But there's some…" he dabbed his finger in cracks along the walls, "ectoplasm, makes sense. I wonder, if they just digged a bit further...This is what their mini portal looked like before it was activated," he called out as he leaned on the wall to look above, "Maybe-" he was cut off by screams, horrendous screams that echoed the walls of the lab as Tucker and Sam looked at each other wildly, as a white light flashed in the portal before flickering off. Danny stumbled out. Or at least, something that resembled Danny.

"Oh my God, I killed him," whispered Sam, her hand coming up to cover her mouth but as a figure stumbled out of the portal she snapped into gear and caught him.

"D-Danny…?" Tucker questioned, scared.

She held him but he felt light almost as if he wasn't there at all...actually...he barely was.

* * *

The machine beeped for the third time that night, a week later.

"So I'm not dead?" Danny questioned for the upteenth time?

"No, Danny, not dead," concluded Tucker, "just kind of."

"But what does kind of mean?"

"It means...you have a slow heartbeat, you're cold, and you...ya know, have ghost powers…"

Since Danny accidentally activated the portal, an abundance of green, blue or pale glowing entities have started to emerge from the portal's open door. Thankfully, Sam Manson was quick to grab an ectoblaster and, with her perfect aim, shot the ghost back into the portal.

Danny gave her a thankful look, he still didn't have control over what had happened to him. Tucker wasn't wrong when he stated that Danny wasn't fully alive nor dead. He was somewhere in between. Since the exposure to the ghost zone, Danny has had flashes of change, to put it bluntly. He would switch between a human with alluring azure eyes and messy black hair to a glowing entity with snowy white hair and glowing green eyes. He could walk through walls, disappear, and fly. At least, so far, and sporadically. Using Sam's experience with driving Tucker insane with her personal bootcamp, she took it upon herself to try and train Danny...or at least try. How does one train powers?

"Not dead, not alive, then that makes me...nothing."

"No, it makes you Danny." Sam stated as she entered the lab, "You're special now. Hell, you must've always been special Danny to sustain yourself during the accident. And now, we're gonna keep pushing your specialness," she motioned to the ectoguns she now had in her arms, "I want you guys to come with me downstairs to the indoor shooting range. I think I figured something out."

Tucker and Danny followed her down a level to the shooting range.

"Okay, so, I've been looking at Danny for a while-"

"Staring," coughed Tucker

"Ignoring that. So when I see him, I've been seeing these little green specks coming off of him. So the last time, when the ghost almost came out, they shot at me before I was able to get them back inside. They shot stuff just like these guns do! So I think, that well maybe, Danny I think you can shoot stuff to, kinda like you have a gun inside of you."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up, really?" Tucker looked too eager, "Dude that's awesome!"

He laughs and agrees, "Well, if it's true."

Sam spun a gun's trigger on her finger, "Alright boys!" They looked at her warily and she rolled her eyes saying that the safety was on, "I'm gonna show you what the Lieutenants won't."

"You're gonna show us how to shoot? Like better?" Asked Danny.

"Well it's gonna be different for both of you. Tucker, you're up first."

Danny watched as Sam handed the gun to him and spoke to him at an even tone, talking him through what to do. He was kind of amazed really, she was demonstrating to Tuck with a gun half her size and only after a few minutes Tucker wasn't shooting sporadically but hitting the target, albeit not a bullseye or even close to the ranges, but it was a tag.

"Alright Tuck, you keep shooting, I'm gonna help Danny now."

Sam sauntered over to him, he couldn't help but warm up in her gaze. He was locked up with girls that all look the same, all but Sam. Even without her colored lips and hazardously cut up shirt, she still didn't look like all the other girls to him.

"Alright Fenton, here you go." She handed him a gun.

"Wait, I thought you said that I could-"

"What, you think I'm gonna teach you how to blast energy from your body without teaching you how to aim normally first?"

Oh. Right.

She went through the same routine she showed Tucker and he wondered how many times she helped people learn how to shoot a gun at the academy. Who taught her how to shoot a gun?

"My uncle. He owns a range," she answered

Crap he thought out loud again.

After he got the basic hang of the ectogun, which was slightly different than a normal one due to weight and recoil, she decided that it was time to switch over.

"I have an...idea to see how the ray can emerge. Do you trust me?"

Oddly enough, he did.

"Okay, I...want you to get angry, or passionate or...something, something that boils you up inside."

That was easy enough, she already stirred that feeling inside of him. He was too busy focusing on the emotion to notice that the green sparks were starting again, shinier, bigger.

"Good, good!"

He finally noticed that the heat that he felt that started in his chest was traveling to his hand, "Now," Sam stepped behind him, wrapping her arms around him to aim his hand, "Now, picture your hand as the barrel of the gun, your mind is the trigger. Push, push Danny."

Her arm on his arm made him flustered, but him being flustered made her grip his arm in the right direction even more. With a slight shout he spewed out a ball of energy at the shooting range picture.

"Oh my god."

" _Dude_."

Danny looked at Tucker in shock, "Dude that is awesome!" Tucker offered his hand to Danny's for a high five only to get shocked with energy as Danny tried to complete the hand gesture, "Oh shit, sorry!" He floated on over, helping Tucker up.

"You're happy, right?" Came Sam's voice from behind them.

"Yeah!" He smiled broadly.

"That explains the floating," she smiled at him, knowingly.

"Do you have like a 'How to Train Half-Ghosts for Dummies' guide or something?" He asked in exuberance.

She laughed, "I think I just know how to read you pretty well."

* * *

When his parents came back to keep working, they were surprised to see a working ghost portal. Jack Fenton concluded that it just needed a few days to open up all the way since their other portal was so small and only took a few minutes, a larger scale also had to take a while as well. Maddie deemed it logical. Danny, excited to see his parents, maybe even ask them to help him train himself, was entering the lab as his parents jabbered excitedly.

"Now that we have a portal large enough to extract human-sized ghost, imagine what we could learn, what we could do!" Maddie looked at her husband in excitement.

"Let's catch one! Let's bait one out and let's catch it!" Jack almost jumped up and down in joy.

"No, Jack, let's dissect it, see what makes it different from us!"

"We can rip it up, molecule by molecule!"

Danny, listening to the whole thing, went invisible at their words. He never wanted to be so small in his life. He disappeared from the entrance and his parents never saw him.

' _I can never tell them what happened...they'll...they'll hunt me, dissect me.'_

* * *

Drills were weird now for Danny. Before, he could barely execute them, falling off the obstacle before he even got up a few feet. Now, as Sam pulls him up during night time, he doesn't even feel dread. Even while in human form, he can feel the strength of the ghost inside him, lighting him up, making him feel airier.

The obstacle course started with an army crawl under a low baring net through the mud. He had a hard time staying whole, going intangible with the gross feeling. When he finished, it led to a giant wall that he had to climb and hop over. He had to jump a few times to get up the wall. He jumped down and started running the standard course, with each obstacle getting higher and higher off the ground until he was at the end where there was a ziptie to allow the cadets to get down. He was about to strap onto it when Sam yelled out at him.

"Danny! Think a happy thought!"

' _Happy thought. Happy thought. Okay_.

Closing his eyes he thought of happy memories, coincidentally, a lot of them involved Tucker and Sam.

He began to float.

"You trust me, right?" She called up to him.

"Of course!"

"Jump!"

' _Jump? Why would she- No, I trust her. Either way, I'm already half dead.'_

With that thought he jumped.

His eyesight was purely on the ground and he looked with panic at Sam but nodded at him. She believed in him. Closing his eyes he thought those happy thoughts again and time stopped. Or at least, he thought time stopped because the ground wasn't getting closer anymore. Time started again, but he was moving in the wrong direction. With a shout he realized that he wasn't just floating anymore, jumping off the pole allowed him to glide and with that, he started to fly.

* * *

Bootcamp because less relentless and more fun over time. Danny needed it less, considering ghosts were starting to get out. Only a month after the accident did he make his first appearance as Danny Phantom battling against a ghost.

Now that Danny Phantom is known, there was no going back.

Tucker's aim was perfect and for the first time since his enrollment in Hartman, he completed the obstacle course, though only Sam and Danny witnessed it.

The trio decided that it would be too odd to have both of the weakest cadets in the class to suddenly skyrocket, especially since they didn't want anyone to make the connection of Phantom to the newest student in Hartman's sophomore class. He had to remain the weak kid because it was the most reverse thing they could think of.

Even though Tucker trained so hard with Sam, he decided that he would stay by Danny's side. There would be two bad cadets and that was that.

Sam, no longer tutoring Tucker, saw the boys less during the day, but once everyone was cleared from the mess hall, the trio would meet up for the day. Originally, it started due to routine. They all were too used to meeting up to practice. When they learned that bootcamp wasn't needed everyday, Sam offered her private Major Cadet room in the hall for a movie night. Nights. It went on and on. Sam loved gory movies and the boys loved Sci-fi, but they all agreed that thrillers were the best ones. They went through many of the flicks.

It was from these movie nights that they learned that Danny didn't have to go ghost alone. He could take Tucker with him. To make curfew, the boys would go back to their Hall and once the Major Cadet made role call, Danny would grasp the other's forearm and turn them both invisible, intangible, and fly them back to Sam's room. After taking role call on her own, she'd come back to see the boys lounging on her bed. She'd roll her eyes at them before resuming the movie.

Sneaking out of bed was made simple for Danny as well as sneaking back into bed. Always making role call was the hard part. Sometimes, a ghost would badger it's way through and with a wisp of cold blue breath, alerting Danny of their presence, he would have to faze down to the lab to shove it back in. Just his luck that sometimes it was during curfew.

It was getting to be annoying and hazardous.

"We could set up security to have an ectoblaster shoot at the doorway if they feel any ectoenergy in the vicinity?" Offered Sam.

"Then it would shoot me too." Danny pointed out.

"Oh. Right."

"Can you even close it? Like, forever?"

"I doubt it. And even if i did, I'd be destroying my parent's research-their work, their grants, income and my enrollment."

"If only we could've trained the whole academy for ghosts." Sighed Sam.

"Or if there were more of me," Danny rolled his eyes, "I'd kill for that." But as his eyes rolled they rolled into each other, creating one whole eyeball, then a normal set of two, and then four, as two heads appeared.

"Jesus Christ!"

" _Guys!"_

* * *

Sam knew she wouldn't and couldn't train Danny forever. She knew that now. Even though she was known for being the best cadet in Hartman Academy, she finally realized that unbeknownst to everyone else in the Academy, the Lieutenants, the bullies, the strangers, Danny had surpassed her long ago. I mean yes she could complain that he had an unfair advantage and if it was her she- No. She can't think like that. If it was her, she could have been dead. Not for the first time, Sam sighed as she stared at her lap. She was responsible for the birth of Danny Phantom, the half death of Danny Fenton and she could never forgive herself.

"I don't blame you."

Sam looked up hastily as Danny appeared in her room, quickly transforming into his human form and sitting on her bed, "You're not the only one that's good at reading people. At least, I've started to be," he half joked before turning serious again, locking his eyes on hers, "I never could blame you for the accident. If I really didn't want to, I would have never set foot in there."

"But, b-but I _provoked_ you!" She cried out, hiding her face in her hands, her long hair forming a curtain in front of her face.

He gently pushed her hair back, "My parents are scientists, ghost hunters at that. I'm a curious thing, and being at Hartman made me realize that I'm brave too. So if you want to think that you're the sole reason that I stepped foot in there, even though it was my choice, then I want to thank you, because this is the most proud I've been of myself, ever."

"You can't be serious," she blinked up at him.

"I've never been happier since becoming half dead, Sam. You and Tucker kinda make life worth living."

* * *

 _A/N: Hey guys so this was meant to be a two-shot trying to take a more somewhat logical approach to Danny Phantom. I mean, how do Jack and Maddie Fenton compete with Vlad's equipment (actually, they have better inventions) with no income? Professional Ghost Hunters in a place where people didn't believe in ghosts before? They'd had to have been a bit on the poorer side. Also, how do these teenagers become professionals with just practice in such a short period of time? Idunno, I just thought it'd be cool to tackle. Though, I will admit, the story was mainly inspired from watching "Girl's Night Out" and seeing Sam drilled in Kitty's bootcamp as well as sketching some redesigns for the characters.  
_ _Alright, well please do review! Hope you enjoyed!  
-BG_


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